Close Up (a news magazine show) last evening featured an item on Robots in a rest home here in Auckland. This is a trial that is underway to evaluate various robots to see what help if any they can be within the aged care setting.
The robots seemed at the lower end of what is possible, mostly reminding people about their meds taking blood pressure readings and the like, they certainly were not mobile or truly autonomous. The feedback that the show presents after items such as this was enlightening, two comments were presented and both of them referred to this simply being a cost cutting exercise to eliminate wage costs. No such mention had been made of anything like that in the actual article so this is probably a sub conscious display of peoples fears of such technology.
This article is another example of synchronicity for me as I had already been considering the impact of robots on our society. This interest had been sparked by the release of Honda’s latest robot, Asimov. Who is more the embodiment of what we generally think of as a robot, a mechanical person. It was the sophistication of this particular robot that had me thinking as it can clearly perform a lot of interesting tasks and it is only a development project currently. (refer Youtube.com and search for Honda Robot)
The fact that it is Honda’s robot is also of interest, Honda clearly makes mass market “things” and is presumably investing in this technology because they think there is or will be a market for them. I mean who wouldn’t want one of these fetching you a drink or better yet doing some chores like ironing etc. The meet, greet and direct function demonstrated on one of the videos is a useful application right there for some larger organisations. Not a great leap to see these things in stores walking the floors and helping customers. Do you want to buy a skill saw? Follow the robot assistant to where they are and it can then answer your questions about the saws, once you have selected one pick it up and carry it to the register where potentially another one completes the check out and then the saw is carried to your car for you.
This is far from science fiction; Asimov could clearly do this right now without any problems. But what happens to the people that do this now? Well clearly they are out of a job right but that is just the way of technology so why worry, when blacksmithing went into decline we had the rise of the mechanic so no big problem.
Well I don’t want to sound like a Luddite but this time I suspect this is different. Just think for a moment of all the jobs that can be displaced by robots and it is a lot, basically it is any job that does not require creativity. Factory jobs, pretty much all gone. Food service, all gone. Shop service, gone. Construction, gone. (yes construction, while complicated once the plans a drawn the rest is pretty much a process.) Information provision (thinking teaching). Surgery, perhaps not gone but there are already robots doing brain surgery. Robot Surgery
See the problem with this technology is that it is so pervasive and is specifically designed to replace humans not to augment them. How does the world work when most people have no work to do? Who is going to buy the goods and services all the robots produce? I can’t imagine my way to how this works out but what I do know is there is a robot coming to your life very soon (think 10 years) either as your helper or replacement. Something to think about.
I came across this little bit of doggerel some years back which now seems potentially prophetic.
When Machines do our work and machines do our play
For then we shall all be in clover
We’ll have nothing to do all the live long day
Till the machines that do nothing take over
Random thoughts on Random topics sparked by my travels through life and the things I see or hear on the way
Somewhat flippant, but they will never be able to do the ironing. It is interesting to visit third world countries and see many labourers or staff doing what a machine could do so easily. I think it is more than just that the labour costs are lower than expensive machinery. Third world governments know they can't have mass unemployment.
ReplyDeleteActually Andrew I think you have a point, ironing is quite a complex task so it might take a little while for a robot to master it.
ReplyDeleteThe third world argument might be a bit circular, they don't have machines so productivity is low and therefore income so they cant afford machines.
Once the cycle starts in the other direction it is hard to stop.
Imagine trying to persuade Australia to give up all its labour saving machines in favour of full employment. I think a version of NIMBY would take over. A good idea as long as I don't have to give up my machines.
but now the manufacturing is being outsourced to third world for cheap labour. Irony is big boys are making even more money while the unemployed labour force of the first world and the machinery there has become useless.
ReplyDeleteI go for a maintained balance with equal opportunity, yet that's possible if some ethics is added to the selfish attitude of profit minded big brass.